Soulmates Across Borders

Chapter 32

Solí fell into a restless sleep and found herself in the glowing blue teneti where this whole miserable business began. She rushed to the tent flap in a burst of speed and exited the teneti before Aer'ehk even arrived.

"Aer'ehk!" she screamed, and she spun all around until she spotted him on the edge of the village.

He slunk up like a wolf with his tail between his legs.

"You tricked me!" she spat at him.

"I didn't! I could never!"

"My father is dead. My brother is dead. Because of you!" She jabbed her finger at him.

Aer'ehk opened his mouth, but then stopped. He shook his head and held his hands out. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen," he said finally with a hitch in his voice. "You've got to believe me."

"Why should I believe you!? I trusted you, and now the king is dead! The prince is dead!"

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Leave me alone! That's what I want you to do. Forsake our bond and keep your miserable self out of Väria!"

"I'll go crazy if I never see you again."

"Then go ahead! Make yourself insane. I don't care."

He put his hands together in a pleading gesture. "Is there no way you could ever see reason about this?"

"Reason?!" Her body shook with rage. "The only reason that matters to me is the reason why I reject you. Your crime against me and my people will never be forgiven."

"But you hate the bear prince! You said it yourself! You don't want to marry him."

"I don't. And I won't. I'm going to marry the coyote prince."

"You've already got yourself a new husband?" His eyes went wide.

"Well..." She frowned. "Not yet."

"I bet you don't even know if there is a coyote prince for you to marry! Why would you rather marry a complete stranger than be with your soulmate?!" His voice trembled.

She hesitated.

"I swear on my life that my men followed me without my knowledge. I felt you nearby and just had to come see you. That's all that happened. The rest of it was just a tragic accident! Your brother and father died; my three best friends died! Your people died. My soldiers died. We both lost people because of this accident."

She scoffed. "You cannot call it an accident! It is a war crime, and you need to pay for it!"

Tears sprang from his eyes, and Solí thought of what Pango had said. Her wolf, who had hated Aer'ehk more before than she did now, had tried to convince her that she was wrong in suspecting Aer'ehk of foul play. Lupé hadn't been aware of the trailing beastmen who followed Aer'ehk into Väria. Maybe, just maybe, it had actually been a tragic accident.

"Please, Solí." Aer'ehk tried to grab her hands, but of course, their hands went right through each other's. "You've got to believe me!"

"...Maybe I do. But it doesn't matter anyways. I'm the wolf queen now. I have a duty to my people."

"Is there no one else in your family?" He gave her such a devastated expression that she had to hesitate. Perhaps he really did feel guilty for it all.

"There's my sister. She's betrothed to the fox tribe's prince."

"Well, couldn't she join your wolf tribe with the fox tribe? Then you could put an end to your horrible pairing with the bear prince and be with me, your fated soulmate."

Solí hesitated. Aer'ehk wiped tears from his face, and she realized that tears flowed down her cheeks, too. She brushed them away and tried to hold Aer'ehk's hand. "Ugh! I don't know what to do!"

"I understand. I don't know what I would do in your situation either. But I know what I want to do. I'll stop at nothing to be with you, Solí! I'll travel across your entire country to find you! I won't stop until I can be by your side."

"You'll never find me."

"I know exactly where you are. Remember, my astral dream magicae allows me to find you in the astral plane and enter your dreams."

Her mouth popped open in shock. "You know where I've been this whole time?"

"I knew I needed to get you to come to me, because it was too risky to try and find you, but now I don't care about the risk. I won't stop until I find you."

"You're going to get us both killed."

"Then be with me." He put his hands together in a pleading gesture. "Give in to your destiny and accept me."

She hesitated.

"Your people will be taken care of. You don't need to worry about them."

She bit her lip. "Miraka, my sister, will be completely alone in the world without me."

"I'll help you! I can cast the astral dream magicae on you, so you can visit her in your dreams. You'll be able to see her every night."

Solí's eyebrows went up in surprise. She felt herself smile.

"I love you, Solí! Please say you'll be with me!" His deep black eyes drew her in.

She took a step toward him. "You really mean it, don't you?"

"I can't stand the idea of being apart! I would search the world for you, no matter how far away you go. I'll find you. My people have teleportatio magicae that can allow me to port directly to your location. All I need to do is find a porter who will agree to open a portal for me."

Her heart jolted.

"Please, say yes."

"You will need to agree to my terms."

"You and your terms. What is it with you people? Love cannot be negotiated like this."

"You will negotiate with me, or I will reject you as my soulmate!"

He bit his lip and nodded.

"We will need to live in a neutral place. Not Ngaherahe and not Väria. Somewhere far away from both of our old lives, where we can just be together. Just me and you and our wolves."

He grimaced and then nodded.

"You agree so quickly. You must be lying again!"

"I'm not! That's just how much I love you, Solí!" He gasped, completely out of breath from shouting out his love profession.

Her resolve finally crumpled under the weight of his love. "I love you too, Aer'ehk! I do. I cannot help but love you!" She gasped as tears streamed down her face. She put her hand over her mouth. "No matter how mad-how furious I am at you and at myself-I still love you. I can't help it."

"Then run away with me." He tried to caress her hands, and then threw his hands up and tried with all his might to hug her, but his body went right through hers. He let out a cry and fell to his knees. He stumbled to his feet. "We'll find a secluded place where it can be just the four of us. Our wolves can have cubs and we'll have kids and our lives will be simple. It will be wonderful."

"You think we can have kids?" Her cheeks went warm.

"I do! I know we can! Our children will be beautiful! Cute little babies with wolf tails and wolf ears and the ability to turn to mist and bond with wolves, like their mother."

She let out a laugh and sobbed in the same breath. "I cannot do that, Aer'ehk. My people need me."

"I need you! I'll live with you wherever you want. Your people have your sister. And like I said, you'll be able to see her every night in your dreams. This is my promise to you."

"Then I accept. I accept." She let out a happy sob. "I accept." She tried to hug him, and in that instant, the dream ended, and she sat up in bed with a jolt and gasped for air.

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1270 Words ~ 35556 Total